His Excellency the Count of Grandet

A few days after the grand open-air salon held in the Tuileries gardens, a British mission headed by the Earl of Liverpool boarded the train to Eperna and the salon.

The honorary leader of the French side is the king, but in fact he is basically only responsible for the final look at the decision.In this regard, His Majesty the King felt that the life of the mascot was quite good, especially when he had a premonition that he would not have a good few years to live—his body knew it.

"It's too easy to go out now." Sitting in the king's exclusive luxury box, Louis XVIII's body sank half of his body in a pile of cushions with exquisite lace borders, with a satisfied expression, "Spent the time spent on the road. If the time does not exceed ten days and a half months, I am willing to go to the easternmost place for a vacation!"

This is really a big truth.Horse-drawn carriages and trains are naturally not comparable in comfort and speed.Plus, while there's no Versailles to live in, the king now gets new ways to enjoy it!More importantly, in people's eyes, this way of enjoying is not corruption that must be fought, but his active concern for developing the domestic economy and improving people's living standards!

"It is my great honor that you are willing to visit the factories of Eperna and Chalon, Your Majesty." Charles went on to reply.The king was happy to ask him to be his company, and of course he had dessert in his mouth.

Louis XVIII picked up the marigold in his hand and took a sip carefully.Inside is a fine dry white freshly taken out of the cellar of Lusalus Chateau, exuding the unique sweet aroma of late-ripening grapes. "It's been a long time since I felt so comfortable," he summed up his recent life with a sense of bliss, and then finally thought of the business, "Is it not a big problem to let so many British people board this train?"

Their good things must not be taken away by the British for nothing!If the British want it, they have to pay the corresponding price!

Charles immediately grasped the cryptic meaning of the king's words. "Of course," he assured, "guests cannot reach such critical parts as the front and rear of the locomotive. And if you just look at it from the outside, no one will know what's going on inside."

"That's good." The king nodded again with satisfaction.Then he asked Shire a few more related questions, and didn't wave him off until someone came looking for Shire.

It was just about the drinks of the British mission, which Charles took care of quickly.When he returned to his compartment, he was reported by his subordinates that everything was normal.

But it was still hard for him to breathe a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that Charles was overly worried.Because compared to their lineup to Bordeaux, the people and things on this train are much more complicated——

The Count of Artois, the Prince of Condé, and the Count of Villers were all present, secretly competing for the membership of the cabinet.Because of the situation, the Duke of Richelieu, who came to power for the second time, made it clear that he was only a transitional chairman of the Council of Ministers, and the cabinet he led was naturally transitional.Although there is no system for electing the cabinet first and then the prime minister, there will always be an advantage if more people can be won.

The king's health became weaker and weaker, and the infighting under him became more intense.At this time, it will stop, but it is only on the surface-because neither side can give up on him, nor can the British see any clues to take advantage of it!

Charles is very conscious of being stared at by others.As early as the previous Christmas, he had seen the clue from the attitude of Count Artois.At the same time, he also felt that it was impossible for Count Artois not to know that he had a better relationship with Victor.In this case, the other party still wants to win him over, which can only explain one thing——

Politics is just a means, the army and wealth are the essence!

If the Count of Artois didn't even know this, then he certainly couldn't be alive and kicking from the Great Revolution to the present.But even if he wanted to win over Shire, he must have estimated the degree of difficulty and the time required.The best time is obviously only when the middle-class freedom or constitutionalism represented by Victor is completely defeated-at that time, Charles has no choice but to stand honestly on the side of the royalists!

I have to say, this abacus is really clinking.It also has to be said that the reason for their misjudgment, apart from the rigid dogma they themselves firmly believe in, is Ciel's limp attitude.

But they obviously don't know that even if it looks like a beautiful white bun, it might be filled with red bean paste!

Now, if the internal struggles in France are one of the hidden ones, the second is basically on the surface-the project cooperation between France and the United Kingdom.

From the bottom of the heart of the French, whether they are royalists or republicans, they don't have a particularly good impression of the British; it's just to varying degrees.

Not to mention the royalists, religious belief alone can make them treat the British as class enemies.

As for the republicans, no one wants to kneel to the Rothschilds who are trying to manipulate domestic finance.No matter which industry makes money, they can do it on their own. Why should they give part of it to the British?If it weren't for the unfavorable international situation, this proposal would have been rejected from the very beginning!

So it is clear which side is more eager to cooperate.The calm at this time is only because the cautious and conservative British people have not seen the scene yet.

In this regard, Charles has only one feeling - the good show is about to begin!

If he knew what Michelle was doing secretly, he might raise the level of excitement by two more levels—it’s not like there are people who dare to play tricks with him, and he would even appreciate it if he was smart enough; but Unfortunately, no matter how much he appreciates it, he never feeds tigers!

At this time, Victor and Michelle were also on the train.It has been a month since their meeting on the mountain road, during which time the two have not seen each other again.

Based on Victor's understanding of Michelle, he knows that the other party always plans to move later——

Michel had given him the love letters between Charles and Annette, which were obviously just the beginning.As for the subsequent development, whether Michel got what he wanted or something else, it depends on his performance: if he moves quickly, he will make a drastic move to settle the cabinet affairs before Michel reacts in the worst way. , then I guess it will be fine——

Even Michel would know that if he dared to stand in the way before or between him and Charles, the result would be nothing but consequences!

Some people may want to ask, what if Michelle is cornered and dies together?

This possibility does exist, but it is basically impossible for Michelle.Because Michel is a typical Parisian who has been immersed in the way of advancing and retreating for many years, and he is even worse than Annette; therefore, if Michel finds that he has chosen a dead end, there will be no fish or fish, no He would rather bend than bend, he would only—

Serve those tainted letters obediently with both hands!

The two have been fighting openly and secretly for so many years. Of course Michelle can guess Victor's intentions, and Victor can also find weaknesses in the other party that can be cut into.After determining the direction, he will be more active in persuading people who are worthy of great responsibility.

There are current cabinet ministers, active aristocrats, and of course opportunists who are up for grabs.In any case, in order for Louis XVIII to abolish Count Artois's status as the emperor's younger brother, he must first eliminate the possibility of Count Villeret being promoted from a minister without a job to the chairman of the Council of Ministers!

And when Victor was busy dealing with various people, Michelle was naturally not idle.As long as a person has what he wants, he will not be too idle, especially when he still wants more gold and more power, even if he does not seek others, others will find him.

At this time, there is no other candidate for others, but Rothschild.

"It's a great name, my dear Mr. Rothschild." Michelle was not at all surprised to see two Rothschilds.He and James had known each other before, so it made sense for James to introduce Nathan to him this time.

"You too, my dear Mr. Michel," replied Nathan politely.

On both sides are old foxes who have made at least three turns in their minds, so there will naturally be a lot of talk in the scene.And when it came to the topic, they all adopted the same method by coincidence—not making it clear, but pointing to something.

"You are such a considerate and good gentleman," when Nathan said this, his tone was light, his eyebrows were slightly folded, and he looked very worried and restrained himself, "If everyone is like You greet people with such a smiling face, I don't think James will be so haggard!"

Michelle was sipping red wine. Hearing this, he raised his eyes. His eyes slid from James's obvious bags under the eyes to Nathan's shiny bald head. He wondered who was behind the trick.But he has always played the role of a gentle and good man with a smile, and of course he will not let himself reveal his true inner thoughts. "Does anyone dare to disrespect our distinguished guests who came from afar? You just say it, and I will educate you!"

The words were answered just right, Nathan narrowed his eyes slightly, and then frowned quickly. "I'm afraid it's difficult, so don't ask." He said while shaking his head, and then asked after a few words, "I heard that some bad things happened between you and His Excellency the Count of Artois earlier?"

Here we go, focus!Michelle closed the lid of the teacup in her hand, and also made a sad look: "To be honest, I really don't want to have a bad relationship with anyone, anyone is the same. It must be that I haven't done well enough to offend the Earl. Your Excellency is not happy."

Nathan mentioned this topic just to confirm whether Michel had fallen out with Count Artois.Although James failed to unite Michel against Victor, it is not necessarily the Count of Artois, right?After all, what must be said, Count Artois is absolutely unmatched in terms of toughness!

Hearing Michelle's confession at this time, Nathan pondered for a while to hide his joy. "I don't think this is your problem." He lowered his voice a little bit, "At the reception banquet, I noticed that the Earl of Artois had such a good relationship with the princes and other nobles. So that people can't get in the conversation?"

Where is the relationship? It's clearly because the circle is small!Most of the others avoid it like a tiger!

Although this was already a bit of a shallow conversation, Michelle didn't say anything, just nodded along. "You are very careful," he replied ambiguously. "They are really on good terms."

How could Rothschild not know what Rothschild wanted?It is nothing more than manipulating the domestic finance of France, and then gaining huge benefits from it!

But there are two obvious checkpoints on this road, one is the royalist party, and the other is Lafitte.The royalist party is superficial, but the real reason lies with Lafitte—a person represented by Victor who insists on not increasing the issuance of national debt!

Now, Nathan wants to unite him to let the royalists step down, and in fact it will eventually evolve into fighting Lafitte.If the opponent is only Victor, he can still consider it; but Charles is also there, so he can't do it-he knows very well that if he wants to earn more money, he must never do without Shire!

If this is the biggest reason, the remaining reason is also very powerful.If he agrees to cooperate with Rothschild, even if he succeeds later, he will undoubtedly get a share of the fruits of victory.

But now that he has a bargaining chip in his hand, he can leave both the royalists and foreigners to Victor to deal with, and then reap the benefits himself——

So, why should he share the fat he got with others?

Of course Nathan could hear that there was no real meaning in this answer.He was not reconciled, and tried a few more words, and soon determined that Michelle was perfunctory, and their first method would not work.Then, the second and final method is left!